Tech Challenge Kenya 2025, organised by Silicon Valley’s The Tech Interactive, is set to engage nearly 5,000 students from over 1,000 schools across Kenya, marking a dramatic expansion from previous years.
The program will host two major showcases in Kisumu and Nakuru for the first time, doubling its reach and impact nationwide.
Empowering youth through real-world engineering challenges
Since its international debut in Kenya in 2023 with 750 participants, Tech Challenge Kenya has grown rapidly, reaching 2,700 students in 2024.
The program nearly doubled this year, inviting students from diverse regions to tackle the 2025 theme: “Drop & Dash.”
This challenge requires teams to design devices that can survive aerial drops and deliver emergency supplies to remote areas like Turkana County, without batteries.
The challenge reflects urgent humanitarian needs in drought-affected regions where air-dropped aid often fails to reach people.
Katrina Stevens, President and CEO of The Tech Interactive, emphasised the program’s global mission: “In the face of shrinking global aid, The Tech remains committed to expanding opportunity where it’s needed most.”
Shital Patel, Director of Kenya Expansion at The Tech Interactive, added, “This is more than an engineering contest—it’s a pipeline for future engineers, entrepreneurs, and leaders”.
Nationwide impact through teacher training and community engagement
A key factor behind the program’s success is its train-the-trainer model, which equips Kenyan educators with skills to mentor peers in engineering design learning.
This approach has improved STEAM education for over 19,000 teachers and 568,000 students nationwide.
The two-day public showcases in Kisumu (July 5-6) and Nakuru (July 12-13) will feature student teams presenting their solutions to volunteer judges from major corporations, including Safaricom, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
Shital Patel highlighted the program’s broader impact: “We’re seeing future engineers, entrepreneurs, and leaders emerge through this process.”
Including special needs schools further broadens participation, ensuring more Kenyan youth gain access to hands-on STEM education and real-world problem solving.
The Tech Challenge Kenya 2025 exemplifies a bold step forward in empowering young innovators across the country. It combines local relevance with global expertise to inspire the next generation of problem solvers.